We read the poll results without surprise, but with regret.

It appears that in Gov. LePage we are presented with a nature, seemingly grounded in impatience and willfulness, that leads to crude judgments devoid of forethought and careful mindfulness.

We are saddened by the flawed measures taken thus far that have served to dishonor many of the governor’s constituents. His inexpert quick assessments are, so far, devoid of the wisdom requisite in experienced and informed governance that we need and deserve.

Perhaps Gov. LePage should take a lesson from our Founding Fathers. The best way to govern is to spend far more time listening than speaking, and no time should ever be spent shooting from the hip.

Anne Vaughan and Niles Schore
Berwick 

The most recent issue of The Economist has given international attention to Maine. Now we will see if the “captains of commerce” will associate themselves with such imbroglio and invest heavily in the state, or just avoid us because they think we are silly.

The new, seemingly laissez-faire leaning administration in Augusta asserts that it has the secret to economic growth. It has to realize that the population center of gravity is drifting farther away from us, and that Maine is not on the way to anywhere else in the country.

Manufacturers here must produce very high-value-added products to compensate for transportation costs that are rising daily. Maine also has limited natural resources, vast spaces, a smallish population, and according to many who know little about the state, tough and insufferable winters. Mostly, they know just what they read in the national press and The Economist, and what they hear in other communication channels.

Many of them, unaware of the glories of the state, are already deflected from investing here because of false and faulty perceptions of what it really holds. It’s a pity that recent events have conspired against their enlightenment.

J.A. Burnham
Union 

Driving home from out of state recently, I noticed that our welcoming sign “Maine, the Way Life Should Be” has been replaced by a sign stating “Maine, Open for Business.” I think it is very appropriate for our governor to make this change, as Maine seems to be rapidly losing its claim to be the state where life is as it should be.

When I see pensions being significantly curtailed for our teachers and our civil servants (pensions that were promised to them as part of their work compensation), and when I see our governor telling minority groups to kiss his butt, and claiming that toxic products would at most cause women to grow “little beards,” and enacting health care policies that impact people with very little income, I conclude that a terrible assault is being perpetrated on the needy residents of our state.

I understand that the state must balance its budget, but the fact that the savings from all of these cuts seem to be directed toward more-affluent Mainers adds insult to injury.

So I think that it is a good thing that we have taken down our former sign. Instead, “open for business” is degenerating into monkey business, undermining the quality of life for us all.

However, I also think that the people of Maine are self-reliant and independent. Thus I am hopeful that we will return to a more sane government at the end of these four difficult years. Then we can restore our sign, and the policies behind it, that affirm “Maine, the Way Life Should Be.”

Dick Regan
Harpswell 

Many thanks for making my Sunday morning funnier than usual.

In my mission to find wherever the comics have been buried, I stumbled across your “opinion” that Gov. LePage “won’t get a vote of confidence from this poll.” Snort … like that matters to our governor.

You ask the question “Why haven’t we heard LePage ask his constituents “How am I doing?”‘ Hee hee … maybe because LePage doesn’t (care) what his constituents think. This is, after all, the man who told us folks who don’t always agree with him that he will “laugh in our faces” and that we are “idiots.” Unless, of course, it’s his rabid tea party followers. He loves making their day.

You do say that the poll “offers some consolation for the governor,” because three-quarters of the folks who voted for him the first time would do it again.

Let’s face it. Those folks would vote for LePage even if he put on a pink tutu and pirouetted down Congress Street. As long as he was singing “I hate Obama, Democrats, liberals and the socialist horse they rode in on,” they would laugh and give him a big thumbs up.

The laughs just keep coming.

Peyton “Biff” Higgison
Brunswick

Jackhammers in the night? It must be spring in Maine 

It’s 8:20 p.m. on May 10, and the third night of road construction in the Old Port has begun. The sound of jackhammers cracking pavement drifts in through my window, as any hope of peace fades away.

For the previous two nights, the construction has continued until 2 or 3 in the morning. Chiseling concrete, large trucks and loud conversations echo through Tommy’s Park and into all of the apartments surrounding it. We residents are left to our own devices to prepare for the workday to come amid the ruckus.

I imagine that there are some situations where this type of construction would be a necessary evil, but if this is one, the city didn’t find it important to notify the residents living around the construction area. Instead, we were informed on Sunday night when the metal hit the road at about 8 p.m., and didn’t stop for six hours.

What are they doing? I don’t know. When will it be over? I don’t know. I have learned, though, that the sound waves in my apartment aren’t actually my property, but belong to the city of Portland.

Aaron Falzerano
Portland 

One thought about the impact of the I-295 Project: The article in Tuesday’s paper states that signs will be used to encourage northbound through traffic to bypass Portland and use the Falmouth spur of the Maine Turnpike to access Interstate 295 north. I suggest the quickest way to get drivers’ cooperation would be to suspend the toll at the Falmouth exit and double the fee at the South Portland exit that leads onto I-295.

Given the recent publicity surrounding the Maine Turnpike Authority, this might even help repair the damage done to the turnpike’s reputation.

Duane Wakefield
Cape Elizabeth